Stories and reflections on medicine, music, family, and the many ways people care for one another
Hi, I’m Dr. Phil Lederer. I’m a physician, writer, musician, husband, and father living in the Boston area.
Over the years, my work has taken me from community health centers, infectious disease clinics, and global health programs to music gatherings, family history projects, and reflections on caregiving, loss, and the search for meaning.
This website is a collection of my interests. Here you will find writing about health, healing, family, and community; recordings and photographs from my musical life; stories from travels; and occasional reflections on the questions that continue to shape my life.
Whether through medicine, music, storytelling, or human connection, I am interested in the many ways people seek healing and build community.
Music has become one of the great joys of my life. I enjoy learning traditional tunes, playing with friends, and participating in the living musical traditions of Appalachia and beyond. I love old time, especially the playing of John Salyer, Clyde Davenport, Buddy Thomas, and other tradition bearers. Music has brought friendship, community, and joy into my life. Listen to recordings of my old-time music. I also am actively learning Brazilian choro music in the Boston scene — another joy.
Lately I have been thinking about caregiving, aging, community, music, public health, and what it means to live a meaningful life after stepping away from a career that once defined me.
I enjoy hearing from health care workers, musicians, writers, and old friends. Feel free to reach out!
Email: lederer at gmail dot com
These Days
These days I spend much of my time walking in the Arnold Arboretum and Roslindale Wetlands Urban Wild, playing fiddle and guitar, spending time with family, studying Spanish, and reflecting on medicine and the many ways people seek healing and connection.
What Matters Now
When I was younger, I thought life was about choosing the right path. The right school, the right career. I worked hard, became a physician, and was fortunate to have opportunities to serve patients and communities in Boston, California, Mozambique, and elsewhere.
As I’ve grown older, the questions have changed.
I got sick. My father passed away.
Now, my mother lives with Alzheimer’s dementia in a nursing home. My son is growing up quickly. Time feels less abundant than it once did.
These days, I find myself drawn less to achievement and more to human connection.
A conversation with a friend. A walk in the woods with my dog, Margo. A fiddle tune played on a porch or in a nursing home. An afternoon with family. One of my son’s baseball or soccer games. The chance to ease someone’s suffering, even in a small way.
I still care about medicine, public health, and the work I have devoted much of my life to. But I am increasingly aware that what gives life meaning is often found in ordinary moments: kindness, curiosity, community, music, and love.
I don’t have all the answers about what comes next. But I am grateful for the people, places, and experiences that continue to teach me what matters.
And for now, that feels like enough.
Philip A. Lederer 